Topics

The cristal baschet is one of the most beautiful musical instruments you will ever see, made of vibrating, tuned steel, fiberglass amplification cones and wire "whiskers" that shimmy when fingers rub the glass-rod keyboard. Film composer Cliff Martinez's version, which resides in the living room of his Topanga Canyon home, is about the size of an upright piano and is as much sculpture as instrument. Martinez, whose scores support three films this year, bought his expensive cristal when he was scoring Steven Soderbergh's surreal 2002 space fantasy "Solaris" but had pined for one as far back as their first collaboration, "Sex, Lies, and Videotape" in...

Related "Valhalla Rising (movie)" Articles

The cristal baschet is one of the most beautiful musical instruments you will ever see, made of vibrating, tuned steel, fiberglass amplification cones and wire "whiskers" that shimmy when fingers rub the glass-rod keyboard. Film composer Cliff...

One of my least pleasant childhood movie memories is of seeing Richard Fleischer's 1958 âThe Vikingsâ on the big screen. The sight of an eagle clawing out Kirk Douglas's left eye was a bit much for my tender 8-year-old sensibilities. (Did it actu